Battle Rhythm
by redgrass-and-silvertrees
Summary: Soul 'Eater' Evans had decided that it was well past time his Meister learned how to dance; Maka, unsurprisingly, disagreed. One-shot. Implied SoMa


**Likewise with _Doctor Who_, I don't own_ Soul Eater._**

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Soul 'Eater' Evans had decided that it was well past time his Meister learned how to dance; Maka, unsurprisingly, disagreed. There had been a half-hearted attempt to learn early in their partnership, back when Maka had really been struggling to understand Soul's love of music. The session had been disastrous for both parties and was otherwise unacknowledged. Maka had considered it done but Soul would occasionally pester her to try again when walking between classes, on weekends and really any time the thought came to him. Maka had dodged the issue for years using schoolwork, exhaustion, even the Kishin as excuses not to be subject to Soul's annoyed impatience and her utter lack of grace. If she were being completely honest with herself, Maka just didn't want to be reminded that no matter how good their soul resonance was, she would never be able to connect with Soul in that way. He, apparently, disagreed as she stood petulantly tapping her foot in the living room while Soul decided which record to play.

It was a Sunday afternoon, no different than any other Sunday afternoon that Maka could think of; yet she'd come home from dinner shopping to find that Soul had moved all the living room furniture to the side and dragged his old record player out with dozens of albums laying there. She frowned at the memory of Soul's deviously sweet smile as he said that he thought it was time that she learned to dance as the rest of their evening was free. She wasn't even dressed to dance, simply adorned in a Death City sweatshirt and jeans. Soul, still crouched on the ground debating which Waltz to choose, wasn't much better in fitted sweatpants and a faded music shirt. Having finally settled on a record, Soul put it on and came close to her. She must have had on an unpleasant face as he smiled wryly.

"I'm teaching you to dance Maka don't act as if it's the end of the world, save that for when we're battling the Kishin." He said gently putting one of his hands at the base of her spine while the other held her free hand. She swallowed uncomfortably at the intimacy as he requested that she put her other hand on his shoulder. It's not like she wasn't used to close contact with Soul, the space between them was quite vast when one considered that that they linked their souls on a daily basis but this was different. She couldn't explain it but Soul's proximity was making her very uncomfortable as he lightly tapped one foot in time with the music.

"Okay, we're going to start real slow 'K? Just remember the steps I taught you and you'll be just fine. It's not like music, anyone can learn to dance with just a bit of practice." He said before he started moving his feet. Maka panicked and looked down to try and mimic the steps. "Yeah, good, but don't _copy_ my movements,_ respond _to my movements." He stressed as he began to pick up the pace a little. Maka knit her brows together, Soul watching on noted with amusement, like a bulldog as she struggled to grasp his cryptic statement. Respond? How could she respond when she didn't know what she was doing? Soul winced and stopped as Maka stumbled and stepped on his foot. "Ow godammit Maka." He swore stretching out the sore appendage and fixing her with an annoyed glare that pained Maka. This is why she didn't want to do this; she didn't want to see all the flaws of their partnership reflected back in his annoyed red eyes.

Soul sighed turning his head toward the ceiling as he ran his hand through his hair trying to focus on the practice and not his annoyance. He knew from their last session that Maka did not respond well to frustration and all it would do was upset her. The record continued to drone out the lovely sounds and to calm himself down, Soul counted the notes and identified the chords.

_G, C-C, G, C-C, G, C-C, G, C-C_

While the melody soothed Soul, he could feel agitation rippling from his partner which was the opposite of what he wanted. Since becoming a Deathscythe and the development of his sound based attacks, he thought it would be good for their resonance to try and hone Maka's musical ignorance. It didn't matter if she felt the music, if she was moved by it. Soul knew her well enough by now that it would never happen but he trusted in her ability to use the music he created to channel her own wavelength. So despite what Maka was bitterly thinking, this spontaneous exercise was not designed to torture her.

"Look, Maka-" she turned away with a huff and stalked over to the couch laying opposite the far wall and flopping down.

"No, I've had enough, this is stupid Soul. We've already agreed that music just isn't my thing and your insistence only wastes both our time." Soul groaned again leaning his head back to look at the ceiling so to avoid glaring at Maka.

"I'm not doing this because I enjoy making you miserable; I'm just trying to improve our soul resonance." Maka brought her knees up to her chest and held them tightly turning her head away.

"I think our soul resonance is good as it is." She said anxiously causing him to walk over and lean over her before she totally retreated into her shell of insecurity.

"Of course it is, you made me a Deathscythe after all and that's not something rank amateurs can do much less people with incompatible souls." She gave him a sideways look and he crossed his arms in annoyance. "Seriously Maka, this isn't about whether or not our soul wavelengths are matched, it's about improving the new techniques we acquired when I ate Arachne's soul." Maka snapped up at him giving him a heated look that said she was already searching for the nearest book to smack him with.

"Oh right 'cause this is all about you. I have to adjust everything to suit your needs, this is a _partnership _Soul, I have a say in this too. I don't like this Soul, as my Weapon, can you respect the fact that I'm not a music person and I can't hop around in a stupid fashion?" She bickered while Soul rubbed his hands along his face.

"Maka I know that, you're completely missing my point. It's not about the dancing it's just like-" and suddenly he stopped his eyes lighting up with something Maka wasn't entirely sure she liked. He smiled and held out a hand to her which she frowned at suspiciously. "Look Maka, I have an idea. Please just give it another chance; I think we've been going about this wrong way." When she didn't budge, Soul anxiously tapped his foot. "Come on, one more try, I promise if this doesn't pan out I'll never bring it up again. Okay, what do you say _partner_?" He stressed eagerly, wiggling his fingers which caused Maka to smile.

She wasn't really mad at him, she very rarely actually was despite what people thought, she'd just been agitated by Soul's insistence. She hugged her knees closer to herself and turned her head away to avoid looking at Soul's adorable pouting face which could get her to do just about anything. After a moment, Maka sighed and gave her friend and partner a determined, if frustrated, look as she took the offered hand.

"One more try okay? But when I fail miserably we're putting the furniture back and we're watching a beautiful romance movie while you do my nails." Soul made a face but merely clicked his tongue as he hauled her to her feet,

"Sheesh you're demanding, alright, alright. Let me just rewind the record and… good, ready?" He asked as he got back to position holding her close like he was her- Maka coughed to cool the blush on her cheeks.

"No," she said briskly watching him smile.

"Good, now close your eyes," she wrinkled his nose at his suggestion but he merely made a face. "You said you were going to make an effort so give it a shot, so close your eyes." She rolled her eyes once before complying.

"Great, now I'm even more likely to step on your foot." She muttered.

"Shhh, now listen, we are not in our living room." Through closed lids, Maka quirked an eyebrow.

"What are you-" He released her hand to flick her nose lightly.

"Quiet, I said we're not in the living room, we're in the middle of Death City and there's a Kishin egg in front of us." His voice lazily drawling out and Maka felt herself tense up at the thought. "Oh yeah and he is a big one," he said huskily as he brought his mouth close to her ear. "He's tall with razor sharp claws, long, ill-fitting limbs and a hideous face dripping oozing slime. Much like yourself in the mornings if I do say so." Maka huffed lightly but she had become too intrigued by the strange picture he'd painted to really protest.

Soul picked up her hand again and drew her close again but this time she didn't really mind. "We've been ordered to take his soul and you are all revved up." She felt him tapping his feet as the music picked up the tempo. "I transform into a scythe and you twirl me around like the badass that you are." She grins at that and is so pleased that she almost doesn't notice when he starts moving. "We begin resonating, my soul wavelength to yours and back again over and over. We run at the monster, one life split into two forms and relieve it of it's soul." He says soothingly as she can feel the grace of his body movements beneath her; she only wished she could dance as well as that.

"Soul this is great and all but what does all this have to do with dancing?" She whined a little bit suddenly anxious, this close to him, she could hear his chuckle reverberate through this chest."

"Open your eyes you idiot." He said quietly and when she did she was midway through a spin, she gasped but Soul's timing kept her in rhythm and she looked down to see her feet working in time with the music. "Now relax, go back to the battle." He soothed before her panic could arise and she looked back up at him only to see him looking towards the wall.

"You make dancing out to be this big scary thing but really all it is is two people with trust and a common connection moving about. You forget that we do this every day. Every opponent we face is our audience, the pounding of your feet and your heart act as the music, every time you swing my scythe, resonate to the beat of my soul, it's sort of like a dance." He shrugged and finally looked at her, "just, you know, a bit more violent."

Maka smiled at this and instead of concentrating on her stumbling feet (which were now falling gracefully into step) or her bubbling insecurity (which, as always, was quieted by Soul's steady assurances) she concentrated on the flickering of her partner's soul. It was something that had always drawn her in, right from the moment she met him, and it drew her in now. It reminded her that she was protected, that she was cared for, that no matter what came her way this lazy but loyal boy would be there by her side ready to face the danger. Soul grinned widely and spun her around with flair causing a delighted squeak to come from Maka that Soul found immensely pleasing.

"Now see? This wasn't so bad was it?" He asked softly holding her close as the record moved the next song and the song after that continuing on until it ran out of things to play and the needle clicked uselessly on the side of the player. But they didn't really need the music anyway; the sound of their souls resounding off one another was more than enough. From her spot cushioned against his shoulder, Maka smiled contentedly.

"I guess not, though truth be told I'd rather face the Kishin by myself than do this in public." Soul smiled as he placed his chin on top of her head while they continued to sway to the non-existent music that lived within the two of them.

"Well you're never alone Maka, you've always got me." Maka let herself relax further into her partner's shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess I do."

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Been on a bit of _Soul Eater_ kick as of late and decided to write this up just for the sake of sheer fluff. I'm no sure what time I would put this in. It's in the manga timeline, sometimes after Soul became a Deathscythe but before the Battle on the Moon. Ug I love this relationship, it's so fluffy but it's not inherently romantic. They're not needy nor clingy nor desperate, they just have such a strong bond and love each other immensely. (I still think they'll marry, post-series though, like maybe in five years or so. Yeah.)


End file.
